University of Hawaii System newsletter

Posted on | August 26, 2011 | Comments Off on Architecture Professor’s Tea House in Exhibit

The Sichang-Road Teahouse in Kunshan, China, designed by Mānoa Professor of Architecture Pu Miao will be among 25 international projects in The Aedes East-International Forum for Contemporary Architecture’s exhibition Water—Curse of Blessing!? Encouraging Architectural Projects in Asia-Pacific. The Berlin exhibit runs Sept. 9–Oct. 21.

The exhibition focuses on how architects and urban planners in the Asian-Pacific region are coping with water-related issues. Of the more than 50 percent of the world population that lives in cities nearly 90 percent are located in the vicinity of oceans or rivers. It is urgent that these communities develop sustainable strategies for integrating evolving climate conditions into urban planning measures and architectural projects.

Miao’s riverside tea house features submerged rooms that rekindle an intimacy between urban residents and natural water, a relationship rarely seen in current rapid urbanization of Chinese cities. People can open the pods to touch the water under their elbows.